Often clients are looking for a large amount of guidance in many different areas, this isn’t because they have no idea what they want, on the contrary it is often because they know what they like style-wise they are just unsure how to get there. Today we are overloaded with hundreds (if not thousands!) of different options and a lot of opposing information. You go in to one showroom and the sales assistant insists that if you want quality there is no other option but solid hardwood flooring when another has advised you that laminate can produce the exact same look for a tenth of the price. It is extremely confusing and overwhelming, and you haven’t even got past your choice for flooring!
In general in properties we tend to use Engineered Flooring. So what does this mean? Engineered flooring is a combination of solid real wood and a substrate or plywood. This is for several reasons: quality, cost, overall look, installation costs.
This is an engineered German Oak, it has been laid as a retrofit. What this means is that it was put in after the build so it needed a trim around the edge of the room (you can see it clearly below). We could have avoided this by putting new skirting boards in, however that could have possibly damaged the walls leading to us needing to re-plaster the walls, a cost we were hoping to avoid as the property was in fantastic condition.
Another question we often get from client is regarding solid wood vs. engineered. Solid wood does not automatically mean it is hard wearing, that comes down to the type of wood, finish etc. Engineered wood flooring can often give a more long lasting quality as the wood is less affected by atmospheric changes in temperature that can sometime warp solid wood.
It can also be re-finished several times just like solid wood flooring, the flooring above was put in as part of a full refurbishment. This has the benefit that it doesn’t need to have a trim around the end of the room. It produces a much higher quality finish as the flooring neatly fits under the newly fitted skirting boards.